Ty Burrell | Supporting comedy actor | 'Modern Family'

Ty Burrell | Supporting comedy actor | 'Modern Family'

Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

It was a very pleasant surprise. We've been texting each other and are so happy about it. It's such a rare thing for us to be nominated as a group and we definitely didn't have any expectation. ... I think there was almost a willful denial about it, because I don't think anybody wants to expect something like that.

On the challenges of playing Phil Dunphy: "That balance of making the characters as real as possible, kind of like as human as possible but still likeable. But it's a fun challenge. It's something I've never had, because I've never had a character last for this long. Plays and films are so short-lived and the TV shows I've been on haven't gone a season so it's a really cool challenge to be playing a part for this long and to start to feel you have a sense for what the parameters and the characteristics are for that person.

It was a very pleasant surprise. We've been texting each other and are so happy about it. It's such a rare thing for us to be nominated as a group and we definitely didn't have any expectation. ... I think there was almost a willful denial about it, because I don't think anybody wants to expect something like that.

On the challenges of playing Phil Dunphy: "That balance of making the characters as real as possible, kind of like as human as possible but still likeable. But it's a fun challenge. It's something I've never had, because I've never had a character last for this long. Plays and films are so short-lived and the TV shows I've been on haven't gone a season so it's a really cool challenge to be playing a part for this long and to start to feel you have a sense for what the parameters and the characteristics are for that person.

It was a very pleasant surprise. We've been texting each other and are so happy about it. It's such a rare thing for us to be nominated as a group and we definitely didn't have any expectation. ... I think there was almost a willful denial about it, because I don't think anybody wants to expect something like that.

On the challenges of playing Phil Dunphy: "That balance of making the characters as real as possible, kind of like as human as possible but still likeable. But it's a fun challenge. It's something I've never had, because I've never had a character last for this long. Plays and films are so short-lived and the TV shows I've been on haven't gone a season so it's a really cool challenge to be playing a part for this long and to start to feel you have a sense for what the parameters and the characteristics are for that person.